Grain-scourer



(No Modei.)

E. K. BOBINE.

GRAIN SGOURBR.

No. 510,769. Patented Deo. 12, v1893.

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NITED STATES PATENT' FFICE.

ENOCH KENNEDY BODINE, OF BRISTOE, VIRGINIA.

G RAIN-SCOU RER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,769, dated December 12, 1893.

' Application filed June 2. 1893. Serial No. 476,380. (No model.)

y of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which forni part of this specification.

Figure lof the drawings is a vertical sec-` tion of the invention in vertical form. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken ,on line :n m Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the invention in horizontal form, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the disks or tables.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in grain scourers, the object being to provide a machine of this character with a scouring cylinder and scouring device operating therein, of such construction and arrangement as to provide for a continuous scouring action from the time the grain enters the cylinder until it is discharged therefrom.

A further object is to improve the general arrangement and construction of the .machine in the manner as will hereinafter fully ap? pear.

With these objects in View, theinvention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, all as hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, the letter Adesignates the frame of the machine, which is incased to form a chamber B, in which is inclosed the scouring cylinder C. In Fig. 1 I have shown the frame as supported in vertical position. Said cylinder C is supported longitudinally and rigidly within the said chamber by securing its heads a., a, totransverse perforated partitions or floors D D at the respective ends of the chamber B, or in other suitable manner.

In the drawings I have represented the cylinder C as formed from wirev cloth of fine mesh, secured to the heads a. a, but I may use perforated metal, or other well known equivalent. The diameter and length of 'the cylinder will depend upon the capacity and style of each individual machine, but the arrangement will be such in all machines as to leave a surrounding space in the chamber B.

The interior of the cylinder is subdivided into a series of parallel compartments YE, E, &c., by means of a series of circular tables or disk partitions F, secured within said cylinder, and having each a central circular opening b in which turns loosely, but snugly, a longitudinal shaft G, having bearings at one end portion in the bed frame of the machine, as at c, and at the other end portion in the upper part of the frame, as atd. Arranged on said shaft are a series of radial rubbers or beater arms H, one set of said arms being arranged to operate inv each of the compartments E, their outer extremities workin g with in a short distance of the open-work Wall of the cylinder. Said arms rotate within a short distance of the table or disk next below each set (usually, about one fourth of an inch therefrom, and about three times as far from the table or disk next above them.)`

Neartbe'outer periphery of each table or disk is an opening h therethrough, in the direction of4 the axis' of the cylinder. Said V opening is usually'though not necessarily, of sector shape with its sides converging toward the center.

The openings in the respective disks are not located directly under each other, but each is a little to one side of the next preceding and succeeding one in order that the grain discharged from one compartment into the next will notfall through the opening inV the bottom thereof until it has undergone the scouring operation.

Above the upper partition or floor D, which is provided with a series of vertical perforations, is a second oor or partition I, also perforated, the two said oors or partitions forming between them a chamber .I in which works a fan I carried by the extension of the shaft G. Above the fan chamberA is a sucltion chamber K into which air is drawn at i Grain is fed into the upper compartment of IOO the cylinder C at L, where it undergoes the first scouring operation by the rotation of the rubbers or beaters. The table or disk partition holds the grain within said first compartment until it is finally allowed to escape through the opening h, when the operation is repeated, and so on through each compartment until it is discharged at Z from the lower compartment. In the drawings I have shown five of the compartments and a corresponding number of sets of beaters or rubbers, but I may employ any suitable number from two to fifteen, the arrangement and manner of operation being the same in all cases. The rotation of the fan creates an upward suction through the chamber B surrounding the cylinder, causing the dust and other matter removed from the grain to be drawn up into the fan. chamber and discharged at 7c.

The scouring action is effected between the ends of the beaters or rubbers and the cylinder, the grain being held at the circumferential portion of said chamber by the revolution ofthe beaters or rubbers. It will be apparent therefore that the length of time during which the grain is held in each compartment will depend upon the distance of the discharge opening t from the edge of the disk or table, inasmuch as the space between the cylinder and the outer edge of said opening must become packed before any grain can escape through said opening. The position of this opening may therefore be changed to snit the character of the grain operated upon.

In order to avoid the necessity for using a different machine with grains of different character, I provide a slide P for regulating the openings h. This slide works in a guide way formed in the upper marginal face of the disk or table opposite the opening, and is operated by means of a screw p, having bearings in a small bracket o, and provided With a lock nut o. The movement of said slide is substantially upon a radial line 0f the disk or table, toward and away from the center thereof. By adjusting this slide any desired portion of the opening may be closed, causing the grain to be held in the compartment until a sufiicient quantity has packed therein to cause it to press inward against the centrifugal force of the beaters to the uncovered portion of the opening. For ordinary grain, I find about five eighths of an inch to be about the distance which should separate the outer wall of the opening from the edge of the disk.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the parts arranged in horizontal instead of in vertical position, the construction and operation of the parts being the same as when in vertical position with the exception that the beater arms are slightly inclined or turned so as to carry the grain toward the discharge end. 'The openings 71, in the table or disks in the horizontal form should be cut obliquely as shown, in or der to more readily catch and pass the grain from one compartment to another. It will be observed that the scouring action is continuous from the time the grain enters the cylinder until it is discharged at the opposite end. In many machines of this character, especially of the Vertical cylinder class, effective scouring occurs only at the lower portion of the cylinder.

Inasm uch as the grain in the machine above described is retained in each compartment for a considerable length of time before it escapes into the next, so that it is thoroughly acted upon in each, a single passage through a machine having five compartments produces the effect requiring ordinarily five distinct operations.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a grain scouring machine, the combination of a stationary, elongated Vertical scouring cylinder O, a series of stationary parallel, transverse disks or tables F dividing said cylinder into a series of compartments E, a longitudinal rotary shaft extending centrally through said cylinder and turning snugly in said disks or tables, a plurality of beaters or rubber arms carried by said shaft and operating one set in each of said compartments, au opening through each of said tables or disks near the periphery thereof, said openings being out of alignment one with another, a feed opening into the first of said compartments, a grain discharge from thelast of said compartments, and the blast fan,all substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ENOOII `KENNEDY BOBINE.

Witnesses:

PHILIP C. MASI, GEO. M. ANDERSON. 

